The RSPCA investigated 54 cases of animal cruelty a week in Tyne and Wear last year according to shocking figures released on Wednesday.

The charity has released its annual cruelty statistics, showing the number of animal cruelty investigations it carried out across the country and the number of people convicted as a result.

In the Tyne and Wear area 2,803 investigations were carried out in 2015 resulting in 23 people being convicted of animal cruelty crimes.

Of those investigations 1,579 complaints were against dogs while 606 related to cruelty to cats. The remaining 618 are classed as other.

In County Durham inspectors investigated 3,253 complaints - 1,985 against dogs, 460 against cats and 808 against other animals, while in Northumberland the figure was 896 - 489 against dogs, 172 against cats and 235 other.

Of all the counties in England and Wales, County Durham had the fourth-greatest number of convictions resulting from these investigations, with 42 down from 83 in 2014.

In Tyne and Wear the number of convictions was 23, down from 40 the previous year.

Among the attacked dogs was a crossbreed dog called Scoobie who was beaten unconscious and left for dead on a kitchen floor after a house party in North Shields.

Scoobie was found dying on the floor by police (Image: RSPCA)

A CT scan revealed he had suffered a fractured spine, cheekbone and eye socket, and five broken ribs.

Police were called to the house one night in September 2014 after neighbours reported hearing a woman screaming for help, and found Scoobie collapsed and lying in his own faeces. They contacted the RSPCA.

“He was literally dying on the kitchen floor,” said RSPCA inspector Trevor Walker. “We got him straight to a vets where he was hospitalised and given pain relief and fluids, but the prognosis wasn’t good.

“Someone had caused substantial, repeated trauma to him and he’d been left for dead.

“It is without doubt the worst beating case I have ever been involved in. Had it not been for the intervention of police, the RSPCA and the great work of the veterinary staff involved, I believe this dog would have died.”

Astonishingly, Scoobie responded well to treatment, undergoing surgery and making a miraculous recovery. He was happily rehomed to a couple in Northumberland.

Inspector Walker said: “He’s still pottering around, though he has a heart murmur and a bit of a cough.

“It’s heartwarming to hear he’s doing well, considering the injuries that were inflicted on him.”

In June last year, Paul Rush, 36, from North Shields, was jailed for 12 weeks and banned from keeping pets for life after he pleaded guilty to one count of causing unnecessary suffering to an animal at North Tyneside Magistrates’ Court.

Trevor Walker from the RSPCA, prepares to release the female swan on the river Lyne at Lynemouth

The district judge stated in open court that the defendant was never able to have the disqualification revoked and that the RSPCA inspector should be commended for his investigation of the matter.

Dermot Murphy, Assistant Director for the RSPCA Inspectorate, said: “These stories show a snapshot of the horrific level of cruelty we have seen in the last year, which have to be some the most extreme cases I have ever heard of.

“People think of dogs as man’s best friend but these statistics tell a different story. They are by far the most abused animal in this country and we investigate more complaints related to them than any other species.”

Overall, across England and Wales, there was 143,004 complaints of animal cruelty investigated in 2015, down from 159,831 in 2014, and cases which had to be resolved by way of prosecution also decreased. 796 people were convicted of animal welfare offences in 2015, compared to 1,029 in 2014.